Yahoo Considering Acquiring NDN to Compete with YouTube

Hot on the heels of earlier news that Yahoo is working to create an online video service to compete with YouTube, The Wall Street Journal has a story detailing just how it might execute on those plans. According to the news outlet, Yahoo is in discussions to acquire News Distribution Network (NDN). No — that’s not exactly a household name like YouTube is, and it’s way, way smaller with about 100,000 new videos per month from 800 providers. Of course, therein lies the potential opportunity for Yahoo.

The Wall Street Journal said that Yahoo is ready to pay about $300 million for NDN but warned that discussions between the two companies are still very preliminary and that “a deal may not be reached for several weeks or may fall apart.” Keep in mind, however, that that’s still a fraction of the $1.65 billion Google paid for YouTube back in 2006, which ultimately became the multimedia and revenue-generating powerhouse that it is today. Of course, Yahoo would have to play its cards right — perfectly even — to create a dent in YouTube.

NDN also has a slightly different business model, in that it licenses out the videos that are created on its network to partners, such as news outlets and news stations, who then publish the video on their networks. While it may not be as familiar to end-users, it’s still relatively large — the fourth largest video provider online, according to The Wall Street Journal.

NDN is so far denying that it is in discussions with Yahoo. That could mean that the talks are at the very top corporate level, if they’re happening at all. Either way — certainly seems like there’s an interest on Yahoo’s end to create something to compete with YouTube.